jazzyvee

I think adding a new pickup would be a piece of cake for a good luthier. However if you are concerned about resale prices then I can't see how taking a high end bass like that away from being completely original would help you get a good price. On the plus side, it may be what needs to happen to make it a confirmed keeper which then removes the problem. :-) Jazzyvee

[quote name='JazzBassfreak' timestamp='1393800369' post='2384563'] I just bought a Fodera YY standard from Bassgear, no 87 actually. The photos on the web didn't actually show how worn In it was..but I knew it was preowned just didn't expect it to be as beaten in as it is. So...I was wondering..even after me paying nearly £3500 preowned is this bass going to hold its value even with all the dinks and scratches from a heavy handed, maybe neglectful past owner? Definitely worth the money best bass I've ever played to date, not to mention the variety of tones and workability is on another level. At the minute I'm a little concerned all that money went on a bass that if I ever decided to sell it I probably wouldn't get back....Cheers folks [/quote] Sometimes you just have to get what you want and not even consider future resale price. All that matters now is that you have a fantastic bass that you think was a worthwhile purchase at the price you paid. I can't see how thinking about future resale at this point is going to help you enjoy it. Jazzyvee

[quote name='JazzBassfreak' timestamp='1393804347' post='2384605'] Ah yes! Forgot about that! I'm not sure id trust a luthier in my area with it. The guitar store staff in my area are all absolute idiots and have no idea how to treat guitars of this quality. An idiot in a shop near me by the name "Pete Oakley music" is an absolute ****! Took my Sadowsky in for a full setup and he said "cheap Chinese manufactured bass" I could've picked up a strat and beat some sense into him with it. [/quote] Where there is no sense, there is no feeling.

Nice pics, I caught some of Yolanda's set on the Elixir stand and really loved her playing. Good sound and seems a person who just loves playing bass and making music. I may try some of those strings on my bass if I get to do some touring this year as I started using them exclusively once I discovered and found I could get maybe 4 or 5 gigs out of them compared to the one or two gigs I was getting out of my regular d'addario strings. [attachment=156675:IMG_4061.jpg] [attachment=156676:IMG_4059.jpg] [attachment=156677:IMG_4060.jpg] Oh and before you ask, no I didn't buy the Fodera, if you are gonna be photographed with the two guys from Fodera, then do it with one of their instruments. :-) Jazzyvee

I had a good time there this year. I met BlueJay on the bass chat stand and got to grips with a Ritter bass again. I still think they are bass shy which is a shame because I think they look fantastic. I actually got to check out some basses that I could hear this year. I tried quite a few different basses today and I only played one that if I was in the market for a non alembic bass, I would consider. That was Rikkers basses, they are from Holland they sounded great and the bottom end was awesome clear, powerful and punchy just the way I like it. It did seem smaller than last year but that could be an illusion. Had a good chat with Alan and John East about their new filter based pre-amps which sound like they are on to a winner. Jazzyvee

[quote name='bobbass4k' timestamp='1393456431' post='2380674'] I... kinda like it. Does that make me an awful person? [/quote] Strangely so do I so + 1

Remember stage fright is not guaranteed. I remember my first gig in about 1976 and everyone was telling me about stage fright and how i will freeze up on stage and forget stuff. It was at a small festival and i got on stage and felt cheated because I didn't get any stage fright at all. I loved every minute of it. I hope you have a great buzz from your first stage experience. It's kept me going for decades. Nowadays I do always feel some level of anxiousness just before we start playing and if I know the band I'm playing with are under rehearsed , my focus can drift because of uncertainty about all of us hitting changes. Let us know what the experience was like for you. Jazzyvee

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/222014-heads-up-bass-strap-sold/"]http://basschat.co.u...ass-strap-sold/[/url] Here is a suggestion on how to make a counter weight for neck heavy basses. http://www.whoisjaylamm.com/2013/05/21/make-your-own-guitar-counterweight-for-neck-heavy-instruments-a-special-how-to/ jazzyvee

My start Ultra has the neck/bridge combination with the selector switch in the middle position. With the dually lace pickups in the bridge I can via a separate switch choose either of the two coils in single coil mode to give me a tele type tone or use in humbucker mode in combination with the neck pickup.

Looks like I'm gonna make it down there this year. I thought I had a gig on Saturday which would have been an overnight stay and in the wrong part of the country on Sunday to get home and then down to London but the gig is Friday so I will get down there on Sunday. Credit card hazards are likely to be short scale series I alembic and Ritter but the idea is to return home in the same financial status as I left. Jazzyvee

Toys by Vertu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NcEo9I_flU

I have a diverse taste in music and that includes rock music but musically this wasn't up my street. I think if the musicians in the band had more of a Jazz rock-fusion element in their playing it would have provided more scope for Guthrie to play across some interesting changes that clearly he is able to do. So I'm not saying the musicians were rubbish or anything like that. I just didn't find that gig appealing to me. A couple of guys I went with are heavily into rock and they left before the end saying it was too technical. If it was more like this video below it would have been much more up my street so I will be looking out for this kind of tour next time and preferably with a keyboard player too. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE5yMTCbsC0[/media] Jazzyvee

: Just in the van on the way back from my gig last night with Musical Youth at the watering hole in perranporth, Cornwall. We played another excellent set. The crowd loved it and the venue was jam packed ,it had a low ceiling lots of wood in the construction so the sound was mellow and solid just right for reggae. Jazzyvee

I don't think there is any doubt about them rebooking us again. Hopefully it's at the time you are down there. But apart from all the way down south, Scotland would be a good place for us to play. The last time I played up there was in 2006 with Apache Indian at a small world music type festival. If you know any venues that would be interested in booking us get them to drop me an email and I will pass it on to.... The management. Jazzyvee

Guthrie is undoubtedly a highly talented guitarist but I found the gig hugely disappointing. I will leave it at that. Jazzyvee

When I use my own rack & cabs bass rig i set the volume on the power amp to full and the pre-amp somewhere between 10 and 12 o'clock positions. My bass is then on about almost 1/4 and I control any volume changes with my fingers. If I'm using anything else I tend to set the volume on my bass about 3/4 on and set the volume on the amp to suit the venue or stage. Jazzyvee

I'm gigging at The Watering hole perranporth beach, Cornwall on Saturday Night 22nd February [url="http://www.the-wateringhole.co.uk"]http://www.the-wateringhole.co.uk[/url] I hope it stays above water. Jazzyvee

Interesting thread. I've read that older instruments sound better partly because they have been played a lot and somehow this helps in relieving the stresses in the wood and hence allow it to vibrate more efficiently and ultimately getting a better sound. Maybe one of these ToneRite devices could help give a newer instrument a vintage sound.... [url="http://tonerite.com/3rd-generation"]Bass Guitar [/url] But then I've read here often that the tone is in the fingers so maybe you need old fingers to get a vintage sound and not a vintage bass. Jazzyvee

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1392390210' post='2368094'] I think it is simple. The tone is in your head. Your "good basic rock tone" is probably entirely different from mine. The ideal tone in your head has been put there by years of listening to the music you like. Now, you've got to buy and sell amps, pedals and basses on a trial basis, after to listening to the advice of others too - and one day you will hit on the kinda thing you need. [/quote] Then you need a sound guy who understands your tone and tries at least to give you that out front rather than giving you the same bass sound as every other bass player that comes through his desk.

From my own experience of slapping, you have to carefully observe what you are doing so that you can locate wherever the extraneous sounds are coming from when you are belting the strings. I'm not a great slapper by any means I just do what is needed for a song so for example when I was learning to play marcus millers version of What is Hip? I realised that there was a really high pitched harmonic, very much like pinched harmonics that guitarists do, pinging away all the time. I tracked it down to my slapping thumb resting momentarily on the string underneath the one hit before the upstroke and causing that string to lightly touch the top of the fret resulting in the high pitched sound . So I slowed things down until I could consistently get the right movement that didn't cause any noise. My bass is very resonant so for other types of slapping I've also taught myself to stop the lower pitched strings ringing by touching them very lightly with the tip of my fretting finger as i play. The rest is down to accuracy especially if you have a narrow string spacing. I hope you find a way to tame that sound. Jazzyvee

[quote name='1976fenderhead' timestamp='1392671499' post='2371520'] Those are sexy, if a bit expensive at about £11 a pair for what I can see. Do you get them cheaper somewhere? [/quote] I got a set of 6 off ebay for £29.70, they came from a company called. [url="http://www.rattleanddrum.com/"]http://www.rattleanddrum.com[/url] Hope that helps. Jazzyvee

Hi Skelf thanks for your input I hope you don't think that I am attacking your product. I was careful not to make that implication. If I can get to the show I will certainly pop by to check out the new system. Jazzyvee

I've had ACG filters installed into one of my alembic basses for a few years now. That bass is a 5 string Europa with a single low pass filter, q switch low and mid cut and boost switches, pan and master volume.. I had The ACG installed as i was trying to remove the GAS I had for an alembic series bass and thought it would give me a similar setup to an alembic Series II bass but with the addition of the high pass filter. However whilst I gained a lot of tonal flexibility, I found that I the character and punch that original electronics had was not there, and as a result I hardly gigged with that bass at all which is a shame as that was my first call bass prior to the mod. So....at the weekend I put the original alembic guts back in and it's like meeting up with an old friend again. I must clarify here that I don't think there is anything wrong with the ACG filters I think they didn't suit that bass. I could get the really low dub bass sound which is what I need sometimes but not the right character tone or punch in the lower mids to carry the groove in the band. I have recently bought a bolt on bass so they may end up in there as I have read bolt ons have a natural punch in the mid range. If I get to bass day I may have another chat to Alan and John about this and see what they suggest. Since having the ACG filters I've acquired a series II alembic and they are tonally very different. Jazzyvee